The Notebook
by lying mongoose
Summary: Quicksilver is as nosy as they come, and Toad's got some secrets he wants to uncover. Avalanche is reluctantly interested in what Toad's got to hide, and gets roped into helping Pietro out. Brotherhood friendship and Kurt/Todd.
1. Chapter 1

Alright, so this is a story that I don't know what I'm doing or where I going with, so... I apologize in advance. I am sorry.

I just find this kinda funny so far, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

Disclaimer! I do not own X-Men: Evolution, or anything else. Joy.

...

Lance was not a very nosy guy. He liked to keep to his own and wouldn't usually get involved in other people's affairs unless he was forced to. He never got curious about the relationships and pasts and current dealings of those around him. Feelings, interests, talents; his way of thinking was, if it didn't somehow benefit him to know, then what was the point of the knowledge clogging up his brain?

"C'mon, what are you hiding? Huh? What is it? I need to know!"

Needless to say, he was very unlike Pietro.

Pietro, like everything with him, had a fast-paced mind. Not a short attention span, as that would connote he got on a task, got distracted and then left it. Pietro finished just about everything he started on, just very quickly, and he was always looking for other things to occupy his time. He had already found and put together every jigsaw puzzle in the house (and there were quite a few; the guy who previously owned this boarding house of theirs left boxes full of puzzles in the basement), created the Leaning Tower of Toothpicks (it reached the ceiling in his room) and memorized the first thousand digits of pi.

As of right now, his fast-paced mind had fixated on the Toad, or, more specifically, his notebook.

Todd had had the notebook for a while. He never took it to school or anything, but in his downtime he would take it out and hunch close with a pen so no one could see what he was writing, or whatever he was doing in it. Pietro only became interested in it recently (four days ago) when he noticed how Todd had started to flinch away and slam the notebook shut whenever he was near.

Toad had been surprisingly secretive. Most of the time, anyone in the house would just give up privacy and let Pietro know or see or hear whatever it would take to shut him up. But Toad had refused, no matter how much Pietro pleaded or threatened or bargained, to let him see the notebook.

"I bet it's just some stupid lovey poetry or something. 'Oh, my Pork-chop,'" he recited dramatically with his hand over his heart. "'I don't care that there is absolutely no hope for us, seeing as you try to kill me whenever I come within twenty feet of you," he waltzed towards the door as his voice rose, "I love you! Forever and always!'" He finished by banging the door shut behind him, and the sound of him running down the hall filled the room.

Lance watched Todd sigh and loosen the death grip he had on his notebook. He watched as the boy cracked it open and he forced himself to turn his eyes back to the TV in front of him. He still couldn't help but overhear the other's voice, quiet from the other side of the room, "Sappy poetry, as if," and then the sound of him hopping out the door and up the stairs.

And this is where Lance's problem came in. Normally, he never felt interest for other's affairs, as previously stated, but now, Pietro's curiosity was contagious. He had the feeling that he wanted to know what was in that notebook even more than Pietro himself.

He shook it off and settled back into the couch to watch daytime television.

…

"Ooh, that is not a pretty sight."

Pietro's voice broke through his sleepy haze like a flood light through fog. He jerked awake, but alertness never came to him quickly enough in the morning. Or evenings, apparently.

He grumbled out something even he himself couldn't understand, and looked at the clock on top of the TV. 7:00 PM. "Well, damn."

Pietro glanced where he was looking, and sighed. "Yeah, you wasted your day away, _sleeping_." He said the last word like it left a bitter taste in his mouth. "I don't get how people can do that, myself." He paused to think about this for what must've seemed like an ample amount of time to himself, but was really only two and a half seconds.

"Anyway, move." He dashed forward to lean over Lance, his arms akimbo. "You, your junk food and your drool." Now, Lance may have been tired, and Pietro's words may have been starting to blur together, but he was able to catch that, and he looked down. Pietro's first comment clicked.

Ooh, not a pretty sight.

To raise a hand to wipe the drool off his chin, and shirt and pants (how was that _possible_?) he had to first remove it from a Doritos bag. And to stand up and walk a step, he had to kick out of the way what looked to be an entire 24 pack of Coke, opened and drunk.

He saw Pietro pick up an empty Honey Bun box with the very tips of his fingers. "Ugh, nasty."

Lance had to snort at that. "Says the guy who eats onion and horseradish sandwiches." He was more alert now, and sat forward, brushing chip crumbs and pixie stick wrappers off his lap.

Pietro scoffed in an affronted manner. "I'll have you know that onions and horseradish are loaded with calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. This, on the other hand," he held up the Honey Bun box accusingly, "has nothing but saturated fats and processed sugar."

"But they taste good." Lance retorted without hesitation. He stood up and started to pick up the remnants of the food stuffs around him. Twinkie and burger wrappers, Twizzlers and Atomic Fireballs. How did they get all this stuff? "Besides, sugar? I thought that would be your thing or… somethin'." He was a bit distracted by what appeared to be and entire deli pickle in between the couch cushions.

"Uh, no. That much sugar messes me up." Pietro paused to stare at the pickle Lance had just picked up and Lance filed that information away for later usage. "Besides," he went on casually, turning away from the pickle, "I need to watch my figure."

Lance deemed the couch clean enough and his job done as he kicked the last of the soda cans out of the way and threw the pickle into a nearby garbage can, and turned to look back at the TV. When he turned back, Pietro was on the just cleared spot on the couch, hand on the remote to change the channel. A narrator came on, recapping the last episode of some reality show. Lance raised an eyebrow disbelievingly at Pietro. "'The Amazing Race'?"

Pietro nodded in a long-suffering manner, and then impatiently motioned for Lance to get out of his line of sight. He rolled his eyes and moved to sit down in a chair next to the couch. "Figures." He settled down once again, deciding to watch Pietro's show and ask him as many questions as possible about it to annoy him.

Pietro, surprisingly, was very amiable about his questions and humored every single one, no matter how stupid. He found himself unwillingly becoming just a little interested in the show. Once it was over an hour later, Lance was in a good mood, but hungry, and Pietro seemed to feel the same. He got up to go to the kitchen, and stopped to offer to get something for the both of them.

"Hey, man, you want anything?" Pietro opened his mouth to order something undoubtedly complicated, but Lance cut him off. "Keep it simple, or you'll get nothing outta me. I don't have Blob's culinary skills."

Pietro sighed disappointedly, and settled for a ham sandwich.

Walking back into the living room, arms loaded with the sandwiches and some more chips and drinks, Lance started to feel the suspicion he should have felt when Pietro first woke him up. It only got stronger as he set the food down and they began to eat. It tried to eat in peace, but the wondering what exactly Pietro could be being so friendly with him for gnawed at him. It made him uncomfortable. Like, a lot. Once he had finished his sandwich, he watched the boy next to him eat slowly. Slowly. Slowly.

Oh, this was just evil.

"What do you want from me?" He asked apprehensively, and Pietro swallowed and turned to look at him quickly. "Oh, I though you'd never _ask_!" He said exasperatedly, and then stood up and put his hands behind his back.

"I… want you to find out what's in Toad's notebook."

He said it like he was asking Lance to steal the Hope Diamond, and Lance had to laugh. Partly because the apprehension was alleviated and mostly because it was funny. "Are you _that_ desperate?" He sniggered out.

Pietro tried to continue to look dignified as Lance laughed at him, and waited a moment to let him finish. He snorted elegantly once Lance calmed down. "Well, I suppose I am, seeing as I came to you."

Lance sobered a bit at the snub, and sat up straighter. "Oh, c'mon. It's probably nothing. Just poetry or whatever, like you said." He was trying to convince himself as well as Pietro, and Pietro picked up on it.

"You know it's not, and I know you wanna know what he's hiding just as much as I do." He took a step forward. "He doesn't trust me, but he does trust you." Lance snorted, and Pietro corrected himself. "Okay, so he doesn't exactly _trust _you, but you've got a chance and I don't."

Lance still had his reservations. "Pietro, you might not understand the concept of 'privacy', but I do. Toad may not look it, but he is human, and he deserves the ability to keep secrets. You don't have to know everything about everyone."

Pietro took on a distressed look. "But don't you _know_ what it could be?" Lance rolled his eyes and said 'no'. "It could be conspiracy theories, or plots to kill us all, or all about Toad's past! All the secrets and skeletons in his closet…" Pietro sighed at the thought of it, and Lance was a bit amazed.

"Wow, you really _are_ that desperate." Pietro looked insulted, but Lance ignored it. "Whatever, if you get off on that, alright, but don't drag me into it." Lance stood up, intent on going outside for a bit. "Besides, why _Toad_? There are others you could be hounding for their secrets and skeletons."

"Because," Pietro said like it was obvious. "Because _why_?" Lance replied impatiently; he didn't like this game.

"_Because_," Pietro went on, clearly aggravated, "no one here knows the first thing about Toad."

"Yes we do." Lance supplied. "We know his name, that he's a mutant, that he's crushing on Wanda," Pietro growled, "and that he's a member of the Brotherhood. That's plenty." He was getting tired of this conversation and was ready to leave.

Pietro stomped his foot, and Lance turned towards him. "No it's not. You know who my family is and where I'm from and what I've done. I know the same about you and everyone else I've lived with. Except Toad; he's- he's a _mystery _and I don't like that."

Alright, so Pietro had a point there, but Lance refused to admit that. "What, so one person decides not to let you know something and you freak out? That's an issue if I've ever heard one."

Pietro calmed down a bit. "It's not just me, it's everyone. I know you want to know about him. Maybe more than me, even. I've talked to Blob, Toad spends all his time with him, and even he doesn't know where Toad's from or what he was doing before we found him. What is he _hiding_?"

Lance sighed and looked Pietro in the eyes. He saw something that surprised him. "This really isn't just about finding out what he's hiding and using it against him, is it?" Pietro's eyes widened, and Lance groaned. "Alright, I'll do it."

Pietro forgot what Lance had said and grinned. "I knew it."

…

Lance felt like a snake.

Pietro had told him his plan last night to get him and Toad alone ("You need to _bond_," had been Pietro's explanation) and this morning it was unfolding.

Pietro had snuck into Toad's room in the middle of the night to unset his alarm clock, so Toad would miss the bus and, consequently, need a ride to school. Which Lance was to offer. Which he did. And now Toad was smiling at him gratefully and thanking him hesitantly and he felt horrible. But he couldn't let it show.

"Uh, yeah." His hand went to the back of his head. "It's nothin'. We should probably get going, you ready?" Toad thought for a second and then shook his head no quickly. Watching him bound up the stairs to his room, Lance sighed and slumped. He closed his eyes tiredly, and when he opened them he yelped, "Pietro!" Quickly he righted himself and growled, "I thought we talked about doing that." No appearing in front of people without warning was a rule that Pietro didn't mind breaking at all.

Pietro tsk'ed disapprovingly. "You're looking a little pathetic there, _Avalanche_," he said offhandedly. "Don't tell me you feel _so_ bad about this." He was drawing out his words and Lance was getting riled. "I'm sorry I don't have your heart of ice, _Quicksilver_, there's just something about deceiving and betraying people to satisfy curiosity that gets to me."

Pietro waved his hand dismissively. "People? You mean just Toad, right?" Lance's eyes widened, confused. "What?"

Pietro smiled knowingly. "C'mon, you gotta soft spot for the kid. It's kinda obvious." His voice sounded strangely sympathetic. He paused to click his tongue and sigh, a brief reprieve before his unspeakable energy came back to the fore. "Besides," his voice was speeding up with excitement, "it doesn't have to be fake. It doesn't have to be 'betrayal'-" he made quotation marks in the air, "-it can be real. You're curious about him, it's obvious you gotta thing fer him-"

"Whoa, whoa, huh?" Lance interrupted Pietro, waving his arms in front of him. There was a bang from upstairs and his eyes widened. Pietro's voice lowered accordingly as they heard Todd coming down the stairs. "In a friend way, you idiot, a _friend_ way." He snorted at the look on Lance's face. "Your mind went there, not mine."

Lance growled but quieted when he saw Todd out of his peripheral vision. "Be good to him, maybe he'll let you get to second base." Pietro hissed out with a grin, and then was a blur going out of the room.

Todd looked confused, papers in hand and book bag on shoulder. "Hey, what was he-" Lance turned to look at him and Todd shrunk back a bit. "Alright, yo. I'm sorry."

Lance calmed down at Todd's fear, and checked himself. "Ah, it's nothin'. Guy's just a jerk, s'all." Todd tilted his head disbelievingly, before he smiled at the apology and stepped forward. "S'alright, dawg. You ready ta go?"

Lance said yes and made for the door. "What'cha got there?" He motioned with his head towards the papers in Todd's hand. The boy shot him a winning grin, and waved them about a bit. "Absence excuses. Lifted 'em from a doctor's office."

Lance's eyebrows raised in appreciation. "Nice one. You got any to spare?" Todd flashed a smaller smile. "A' course. Need one?" Lance nodded, and Todd handed him a few. One was already filled out for last Friday in a looping, feminine cursive. Todd saw him looking at it closely, and spoke as he opened the front door, "My ma's handwriting. Easy enough ta copy."

Lance looked up at him, watching as he walked towards his jeep. This was the first he had heard Todd say of family in any way, and it surprised him a bit. He realized then that Pietro really was right; he didn't know much about the Toad. Nothing more than what was on the surface.

He followed out the door and to his jeep.

…

The ride to school was filled was awkward fumbling for conversation on his part and confused responses from Todd until the kid said, "Hey, you sound like yerself wheneva' that Kitty X-Man is near." and then he shut up.

And he felt like that, too. Trying to befriend Todd and get him to open up a bit was not unlike trying to win a girl like Kitty over. You kept it calm, you were doing alright, you said something funny, you were doing good, and you shook a building down and you were back to square one. Earthquake-inducing powers could be a bit of a deal breaker.

Well, after that morning, he found that it wasn't really like that with Toad. At least the last part.

After dropping Todd off, he quickly went to get ready for his own classes. Rebel mutant or not, Mystique had made it quite clear that they were to miss no more school (unless they had legitimate excuses, of course) or else. Or else what? He didn't need to know for the Fear of Their Boss-Lady to be instilled in him.

He sort of liked his first few classes of the day, so he was feeling fine. The looming knowledge that he was going to actually have to attend _Math_ class that afternoon for a change kind of dampened his spirits, but overall, he was feeling good about the day ahead of him. Everything went fine until lunch, really.

So, the Brotherhood was sitting in their usual spot, minding their own business (alright, admittedly terrifying a few of their fellow students, but whatever) and the X-Panties-in-a-Bunch-Men show up to flex their sense of justice. Jerks.

"Hey, Alvers, why don't you cool it? I know you haven't been here for a while, but some of us are here trying to learn something." Cyclops had said in his best authoritative voice. Lance was about to reply but the sound of Toad laughing at something distracted him. He turned to see what it was and had to chuckle himself.

The blue guy was hiding under a table fiddling frantically with his watch which had apparently just been caked with slime (courtesy of the Toad) and fizzed out. Kurt glared at Todd and he quieted down a bit, and when a string of German swears came from under the table, he sighed and hopped down, effectively blocking Kurt from view. As well as what he was doing.

But a minute or so later, they were both crawling out, Kurt dusting himself (now without the fur, fangs and tail) off and Todd standing hunched next to him. They were beginning to say something to each other when they noticed that everyone at the table was staring at them. The German blushed and then left to go back to his own table quickly, with the rest of the X-Men following slowly, shooting glares at the group they were leaving.

The silence that followed was even more awkward than the one in the car, with Pietro, Fred and Lance staring at Todd. He shuffled his feet and eventually shrugged. "It was funny, but it'd be messed up to bring the blue dude to light like dat."

And then the bell rang before anyone could question anything. Todd quickly hopped off away from them to get lost in the crowd of trundling bodies, and the rest of the Brotherhood glanced at each other, puzzled. Toad and that bamfing German had just effectively defused a potential fight with their enemies and they didn't quite understand how.

They shrugged once most of the students had vacated the room, and made for the door out of the mess hall and into the sunlight. They had gym next.

…

In gym, the only people who had to do anything were the ones the coach deemed 'football material'. Unfortunately, Lance was included in that. The coach had singled him out of the Brotherhood, and no one was about to help him out.

Everyone else sat on the rafters, talking, reading, catching up on schoolwork, or taking a nap. Blob was doing the latter, with Toad by his side listening to Pietro hassle the boys and girls who were actually participating in gym.

They were playing a game of keep away, where the coach chose a few people who were to try to take balls from the rest of the group. Lance was one of the few. Spyke was one of the rest.

Now, the coach had a strict 'anything goes as long as I don't see it' policy, and, well, if other people were taking advantage of that, you had to as well. And Spyke was definitely using that policy to his benefit. Lance's eyes were on the ball the X-Man held, and as they were, he saw the spikes covertly coming out to help him pull off some seriously impossible moves.

Lance was corralled by other players close to the rafters, and as he was looking for an opening out he heard Pietro's voice just behind him. "Don't you see Daniels? X-Man, and using his powers for his own gain." He snorted disdainfully. "What would Daddy Cyclops think?" Lance snickered and Pietro's voice lowered, "If he's using powers, why don't you even it up? Wipe that look off his face."

Pietro reminded him strikingly of a bad friend who persuaded him to do stupid things just then (he'd talk to him about that later) but it sounded like a good idea. His hand twitched and the boys in front of him lost their footing, and he moved forward to position himself with a straight shot to Daniels. His hand came up to shake the ground around the X-Man, not much, barely above 2.0 on the Richter scale, just enough for him to lose the ball. Which he did. In spectacular style.

He shook and waved on one foot before falling on his face with a loud 'thunk' and the ball flew from his hands to bounce and roll to Lance's feet. It was quiet for a moment before Pietro cracked up from the rafters and everybody followed his example. The laughter echoed in the large building even after it stopped a few moments later, and Lance watched, still chuckling, and Spyke pulled himself up, red-faced.

He glared at the Brotherhood member, and Lance waved his hands in front of him, grinning, before pointing behind himself with his thumb at Pietro, still cackling in the lower rafters. He mouthed, 'It was his idea.' and Daniels took a few intimidating steps forward.

"Funny, Maximoff. And here I thought you didn't mind coach refusing to have you down here, seeing as you're good for nothin' but track."

Now it was Pietro's turn to glare and redden. Everyone knew Pietro had a thing against track and anyone affiliated with it. Apparently he was too good for it, and of the opinion that track was for dorks and girls.

Oh, and Daniels stuck a _nerve._

Suddenly, Pietro was in Spyke's face, and Lance looked around quickly to see if anyone had seen. Amazingly, no one had, but heads started turning at the confrontation that was unfolding. Pietro was hissing things out, and Spyke's responses were getting louder and louder.

Lance had turned around to look at Toad and Blob, who was slowly waking up, and what happened next is slightly blurry to him. There was a rushing sound and then he was on the ground, eyes going back in his head and the building shaking terribly. He remembered Todd's voice, shouting over the noise, "Get him, man! We gotta get outta here!" and being picked up.

Next he remembered, he was outside in Freddie's arms, being set down carefully, with all the Brotherhood and Daniels looking at him worriedly. Especially Daniels.

"What's wrong with you guys?" He got out, and was surprised at the difficulty he had with it. He saw Todd reach a hand down to his shoulder and when he pulled it back a moment later it was coated in red. He looked down where Todd's hand had been, "Oh." and then passed out again.

...

I've got some more after this written out, but it was a wee bit long. So...

I was wondering if anyone else noticed the utter lack of dicernable motivation for what the characters do. I don't know, it just glared out at me, and I found it funny. I guess, "It needs no explanation, it's fun!" applies to me very well.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, here we are with another chapter of this going I-don't-know-where story. Have fun, please.

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1, ya'll.

…

When he woke up again, he was in the school's infirmary, laid back in a bed with his left shoulder and arm bandaged up. He glanced around him, and took a moment to realize that an X-Man was in the room with him.

"Uh… Daniels, right? Mind filling me in?" He motioned with his good arm to his now bad one. Spyke turned towards him with a jolt, and then took on an uncomfortable look. "Uh, yeah, about that…" He was beating around the bush and Lance was getting impatient. "C'mon, man. Spit it out! It's not as if I'm gonna die."

Daniels looked at him and then sighed, slumping while standing next to the bed. "I'm trying to say that I'm sorry." He finally got out, grudgingly. Lance glanced up at him confusedly, and Daniels elaborated with a wave of his hand over the bandaging. "This is my fault. I was aiming for Pietro, but dodged it, and you were… well, next in line." He pointed out the window, and Lance turned to look and was silently shocked to see half of the building that was the gym crumbled to the ground, "I'm getting the blame for that, too."

Lance turned to him, questions coming out slowly just as comprehension was. "I did that?" Daniels nodded soberly. "Yeah, but only because my spike hit you and you cracked your skull on the floor. Professor Xavier said it was some sort of… defense mechanism. You got hurt pretty bad and you couldn't control your powers, so they went haywire, trying to protect you from whatever hurt you." He got that ashamed look again, and Lance went on with another question to distract him from it. He didn't like people feeling guilty around him.

"Anyone see us?"

Spyke shook his head. "I think the principle's got his suspicions, but everyone's blaming it on a freak earthquake and 'unsound structure'. School's gonna be shut down for a few days while every single room on campus is inspected for structural stability." Both Lance and Daniels grinned at that, before another question came to mind that darkened his spirits.

"Did… everyone get out alright?"

Daniels nodded, and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, after Toad yelled, everyone made for the door. There was one girl, though…" Evans paused and Lance listened intently. "She fell, and, man…" Daniels shook his head at the memory, still feeling the shock of it. "Pietro went back and got her. I didn't think…"

There was a knock at the door, and Spyke seemed to come back to himself. He stood up and made for the door, "I gotta go get what's comin' to me from every adult in my life. Man," he laughed, "do I wish I was you." He opened the door and left, and when he did two others came in.

"Where's the White Wonder?" He asked comfortably when his fellow Brotherhood members stood next to his bed, and Todd answered with a smile at his humor. "Milkin' the story of the 'terrifying quake' and how he braved through to save everyone for all it's worth." They all rolled their eyes.

"Saves one girl and he blows it up like that? And here I was starting to not regret him so much." He sighed and Toad and Blob chuckled. There was a silence for a moment for Lance to think about what to ask next. He came to, "So, Spyke looks pretty whipped. What happened while I was out?"

Todd and Freddie settled down to fill him in. All about the police and fire department and the entire student body being rushed off the school grounds because of the fear that it was a bombing, and Principle Kelly's speech to the news crews (which laid even more suspicion on something 'not natural'). Toad couldn't stop laughing as he recounted Spyke getting told off by everyone, especially his aunt (who had seen the story on the news and come to see her nephew) when the truth of the cause of the quake came out.

"You cannot let your rivalry with this other boy control you so," Todd did a hysterical impression of the woman. "People were hurt, and many more could have been. What you put that young man through was horrible. No one should have to lose control of their powers like that…"

Todd trailed off and both he and Fred stared down at him. "Hey, man, are you…" the Blob spoke, and Lance looked up at him, then back over to Toad, taking in their faces before waving it off. "Yeah, a' course. It wasn't anythin'. Now, is there anything to eat around here? I'm starvin'."

Fred stood up, the room shaking a bit as he got up one leg at a time, "Same here." He started for the door, saying as he opened it to go out, "I'll go find something."

Which left him and the Toad. Yesterday night and that morning came back to him; he was trying to gain trust. Well, laying injured in a hospital bed made him seem pretty trustworthy, he thought, so now was a good a time as any.

"Exactly how long have I been out?" He asked offhandedly, glancing at the boy next to him before looking in the other direction at the large potted plants that were in the corner next to the door. The sun shined directly on them, and he guessed that they were real.

He heard Todd shuffle around for a moment before he felt a dip in the bed. He looked back, and Todd shrugged from his position sitting by his side, "Not so comfy on the floor." He seemed to be waiting for Lance to tell him to get off or give the okay, so Lance nodded his agreement.

Todd smiled and then answered his question, "It's around half past 4:00, and you shook the gym down at- I forgot to thank ya fer that, didn't I? Yeah, thanks, man. I mean it. And- oh, right. Gym down at noon, so, ya've been out long enough ta worry us."

Lance chuckled at Todd's run-on trains of thought - he knew Todd had barely caught himself from going off on a tangent, and found it funny. Todd sat there, setting his hands on his knees and Lance saw him move both legs upwards as if to set his feet on the bed before he set them back down. This was a habit of Toad's that was very distinctive of him. He was thinking twice about doing it, though, and Lance was about to say something when another question came to him.

"If it's half past 4:00, why are we all still here? Shouldn't you guys be at home and me in a hospital or somethin'? I mean, conked out for five hours seems a bit too serious to leave alone in a school's _sickbay_. And, yeah, why are we _alone_ in here - hello, nurse or whatever?"

Okay, a few questions. Todd turned to look at him, eyes looking playful and a bit sarcastic. "In all the hubbub of your little fit, no one remembered to tell ev'ryone to go home. That prof. of the X-Geeks convinced everyone that you was alright, so no one went ta send you anywhere and no one _really_ worried. 'Cept that Spyke guy. He felt bad over you. And as fer nurses, I don't know myself. I'm missin' 'em just as much as you."

Todd grinned at him, his teeth showing bright yellow against his skin, and Lance laughed at his cheesiness. "Oh, come on, no one in their right mind would miss Nurse-"

There was a knock at the door, and Lance jumped. He wasn't expecting Fred back so soon. A surreal feeling came over him for a moment, telling him that the woman they were talking about was going to, against all odds and logic (she wouldn't be here, right?) walk through that door.

Todd perked up noticeably, and Lance had another feeling that the kid already knew who was knocking before he called for them to come in.

"Yo, Fuzzy. What'chu doin' here?"

Indeed, it was Blue Boy in all his image-induced glory, and Lance's first feeling was proved to be just as surreal as it had felt, and his other right on the money.

Kurt looked at Lance for a moment with sympathy in his eyes, before he looked back to Todd. "Ja, Toad, the Professor has asked for you. He vants to talk."

Kurt had a look on his face that suggested nervousness that Lance couldn't quite understand. He looked awkward waiting for Toad to accept or decline and Lance noticed him shuffle and his arm move forward, as if he were about to offer it to Todd, before he thought twice.

Todd looked to Lance, and to Kurt, and back and forth again. Lance laid back and motioned forward with his hand, and Toad smiled at the boy at the door and, after a quick look at Lance, stole away to him.

Lance sighed after the door clicked shut. The pain in his arm that was so unnoticeable when he woke up was starting to blossom into something that demanded his attention, and the pain in his head didn't help much either. He turned his head to look back out at the gym, and let his mind wander in lieu of a painkiller.

He couldn't remember letting his powers go and tearing down that building, and he had the feeling that he never would. It was one of those things that your mind almost seemed to protect you from. That you protected _yourself _from. Having that much power, so uncontrollable… Sometimes, it's better not to know about something like that.

He thought of Toad for a good while, from last night with Pietro to him just now leaving with the blue X-Man. He was going to stick to trying to find out more about the little guy. He felt more interested than ever, now that he had time to think in depth about all that had transpired in the past hour or so.

Something struck him as odd about Todd's leaving, he realized. The German had told him that the guy in the chair wanted to talk to him, and Todd hadn't asked what about. Thinking back, he just seemed to accept it, like he had expected it, or it had happened before.

Lance wondered a bit more, before he groaned when he realized how much he was over-thinking this. Of course the professor had probably spoken to him before - while he, himself, was knocked out. He probably just wanted to get an update out of Todd and - wait, that made no sense either. He could get an update out of one of his X-Men or something… Whatever.

Lance steered away from that train of thought, and his mind went to what Spyke had said about Quicksilver. Going back into a collapsing building to save someone… He wished that self-righteous jerk Cyclops could have seen that. It would have shaken that 'You're the Bad Guys, and That's That' mentality right to its' foundation.

But no, he would probably rationalize it to Pietro only doing it for the praise and adulation. Which was understandable, with one glance at the boy up on a table with a couple dozen girls around him listening to him recount the experience like the drama queen he was. But no, that wasn't it. No matter what he illustrated himself as, Pietro could value another human life, no strings attached.

In his painful, steadily sleepy haze, a thought came to him that felt like a revelation for the moment it stayed in his mind before it slipped away as he turned his head away from the wreckage outside the window.

Pietro wasn't going to stay that way.

Who could? Being the son of a man who wanted to bring about a full-blown war, and probably would. Having a sister who wanted nothing more than to kill you and your father. Blaming yourself for it all.

He was going to stop giving a damn for anyone but himself and become that archetype villain Shades thought of them all as.

The pain had leaked into his chest before he fell back asleep.

…

He woke back up to the same room, but with all of the members of the Brotherhood standing around him.

Alright, not all _around_ him; Toad and Blob were close to the window, staring out and talking with grins at each other, Mystique (he gulped a little in fear) under her guise as Principle Darkholme was standing straight-backed by the door, and Pietro was hovering… right… _over_ him.

"_Damn _it, Pietro!" He snapped, startled. "Get the hell away from me!" Pietro grinned and moved back, a blur until he was standing straight by his side. "I'm hurt, Avalanche," he certainly didn't look it, needless to say, "I was just wondering if you were alright." He sighed in a very wounded manner, somehow keeping the grin on his face.

Lance couldn't open his mouth before Pietro was talking again, making various energetic hand gestures to punctuate himself. "But, now that I see that you're fine, I can stop worrying. Now, how about that number you did on the gym? I didn't think you'd have it in you. I'm shocked, really." His hands went to his chest and his voice went sinister as he leant closer. "Everybody else is, too."

He slyly glanced back to Mystique, and Lance knew with a sick feeling in his gut just who he meant by 'everybody'. Quicksilver smiled mockingly, "Oh yeah, she's not very happy."

Lance felt a little (lot) bit like curling up on his side and feigning sleep until everyone was gone again, but unfortunately he was pretty hungry and wanted the hell out of this room. And he felt like sticking it to Pietro. He looked the other in the eyes and forced himself to seem unaffected, saying, "Yeah, that's nice. Thanks for telling me."

Pietro, predictably, huffed a little and sobered a little more. "Yeah, whatever." He reminded Lance of a little boy who had been denied a lollipop, and he wanted to laugh, but the pain in his shoulder kind of put a damper on his cheer. But it still made him feel better.

Pietro shook it off quickly, though, and then caught his eyes. "We're about to all go back to that dump we call home, sweet home - it's been a long day of damage control, thanks to you - and you need to get up." He snorted sarcastically, "Unless you need to be carried."

Lance narrowed his eyes, ruffled at his manliness being disrespected. He moved to sit and stand, ignoring the pain in the shoulder beyond giving just a small grunt of acknowledgement. Pietro was smiling at him, amused and Lance was about ready to start a very unpleasant verbal exchange once he stood, but was distracted by his name being called.

"Lance? Are you alright?" He looked over to Todd, who was looking at him worriedly. The boy stepped over to his bed, where he was still in an awkward half-sitting position, completely ignoring Pietro. "You're bleeding, yo." He said, somehow sounding very serious even with his personal lingo, gesturing to Lance's shoulder with his head.

He looked down, and realized that Todd was right. The white bandages were blotched with red spots and he groaned, already knowing that he was going to hate dressing wounds with a passion.

His groan got Mystique's attention, and the woman walked over to them very purposefully. She assessed Lance's shoulder silently, as well as the looks on both Todd's and Pietro's faces, before she snapped out, "Pietro, you shouldn't have provoked him." She glared down the boy who looked affronted, but who couldn't get a word out before Mystique went on, "I expect you to redress his wound."

"What? No!"

Mystique glanced between both Lance and Pietro, who glanced at each other when they realized they had said the same thing. There was a tense silence before Todd broke it hesitantly, "Hey, yo, I'm good at taking care of wounds. I'll do it, no prob." He looked at Lance unsurely, "That is, if you don't mind."

Lance looked at the smaller boy gratefully, and nodded at him quickly. Mystique readjusted her glasses and looked back at Pietro, "I'll find something else for you to do. For now, don't you dare aggravate him."

As Pietro huffed and stepped away from the bed and over to the window, Lance felt a bit of appreciation for their boss that he had never felt before. She turned her eyes on him and he thought he saw them soften somewhat (_pity?_) before clipped words came out. "Don't you dare aggravate _yourself_, either. I don't need you impeding your own healing process and leaking blood everywhere."

He quickly shook off the queasy feeling that came with that mental image and nodded his assent to her. She smiled, only somewhat disturbingly, and then started for the door. "Come along, boys," she said, holding the door open. She looked to Freddie and nodded to Lance, and Lance didn't really feel like protesting in the face of their boss. He let the Blob support him out the door and to his car without complaint.

Toad hovered around him in a way that reminded him funnily of something decidedly _not_ amphibious, worrying quite obviously as he asked him whether or not he really felt up to driving the couple miles to their house. Lance shrugged him off good-naturedly, saying, "Did you _see _the look on Pietro's face? I feel like a million bucks."

Todd and Freddie laughed with him, and once they had calmed Todd looked around curiously. "Yo ya'll, where is our resident whirlwind, anyway?" Fred glanced around as well before shrugging indifferently. "Don't matter - he can make it home on his own."

Todd frowned for only a fraction of a second before shrugging as well and starting to move towards the passenger door. He paused, though, and then turned to the driver's door to open it, before scrambling up and over the jeep effortlessly, his feet barely touching the roof at all. He dropped down and vaulted himself in through the open window on the passenger side, landing in the seat quite perfectly.

Lance had to gape at the smaller mutant's agility, but he had to smile at the boy's show of consideration more. Actually, he found it quite funny. He laughed a little as he clambered into his seat, smiling as he nodded his thanks to the other.

He turned the key in the car's ignition, listened to the engine turn reliably over and sighed. Toad and his notebook came back to him, and he thought it mildly disconcerting that despite everything that had happened in the past half-day, his mind when back to something, comparatively, so trivial.

He disregarded that, and instead decided that it didn't matter. He wouldn't have much else to do while he was healing and school was out besides try to do what Pietro had wanted him to do. Which, if he was just a little honest with himself, he didn't really mind.

…

He was hungry like nobody's business when he got back to their dilapidated mansion, and he realized that he had never gotten anything from Fred because he had fallen asleep. Did Fred come back to find Toad gone and him passed out? He found that mental image very funny for some reason, and nearly laughed.

Besides all that, he was ready to try and scrounge up something for himself as soon as he got in that house. His stomach growled and he shifted, ready to ignore it until Toad was straightening up next to him to look over concerned. "You hungry, man?"

Lance shifted and looked at him confusedly, "Um… yes?" Todd nodded to himself and said, "You just let Freddie here help you to your room - I'll get'chu somethin'." Lance didn't have anytime to question this plan before Fred was consenting with a 'yeah' in his direction and Todd was asking him if there was anything specifically he wanted.

He also didn't have any room to refuse their help; he was tough and all, but getting around and taking care of yourself was a bit of a challenge with a hole through your shoulder. A hole that _hurt_. Like, a lot. On top of that, he felt drained. Drained in a way that an afternoon of bed rest couldn't help very much. He wanted to lay down and not move for a long time.

He supposed that had something to do with using so much of his power.

He said no; anything will do, and let himself be supported to him room. Sure enough, though, things just couldn't go smoothly in the Brotherhood house.

No sooner than they were through the door was their headache-inducer personified in their faces, grinning and running his (obviously insulting) words together. Good grief.

Pietro finally noticed everybody's blank looks, and snorted as if everyone was expected to be fluent in fast-nese. He sighed and slowed down, like he didn't have this kind of time but was humoring them anyway. See now, this is why he didn't have a girlfriend. This is why he didn't even have _prospects_ for girlfriends.

"Huh, and here I was thinking they were all put off by his fabulousness." Lance barely registered that he had said that last part out loud before he was stifling laughter at Toad's comment. They all were - except Pietro, of course.

Quicksilver huffed indignantly, not very happy that they hadn't heard a _word_ he'd said. It only caused the others to laugh harder, though. Silently brooding for all he was worth, he got ready to drop a bomb.

"Hey, Toddikins, that German boy called."

Alright, so it was admittedly a tiny bomb, but whatever. It got their attention and stopped their laughing. Todd looked up at him, and Pietro noted the little glimmer of happiness in his eyes. "You mean Kurt, man?"

Score. Goal. Strike. Jackpot. Some other euphemism to express a feeling of utter _win_.

Lance picked up on the happiness then, too. He looked away from Pietro to Todd, and noticed the perked posture, the alert eyes, the smile. He suddenly felt like he was missing something big and obvious, like he had all the necessary tools to figure something out but couldn't find the answer in all the pieces. Looking back to Pietro, he saw that that wasn't the case with him, judging from his smirk and bright, pleased eyes.

Uh-oh.

Pietro nodded at Todd, saying, "Yeah, that's his name, right? He was asking for you. I think he was wondering if you got home alright." Todd's smile eased down into something no less happy, but more fond. He seemed content to just know that and was about to go to the kitchen for Lance's food before Pietro stopped him with a question.

"Why?"

Todd stopped and stood still, and the tension came off of him and into the room immediately. Pietro looked unaffected, as though it was just a simple question, but it was easy to see it wasn't. He stepped forward.

"Why was an X-Man so concerned for you?" Todd didn't look like he knew how to answer that question, and when Lance saw the fear in his eyes, he decided to stop this. "Quicksilver, we're all hungry. Ya mind letting us to the kitchen?"

Pietro looked at him with a bit of a glare, but seeing his bandaging and weak posture, leaning against Freddie for support, he seemed to think better of starting a fight and risking Mystique's wrath. He nodded reluctantly, and moved out of the way. Back to the living room from whence he came.

Lance sighed, looking at Todd's stiff back and Pietro's retreating one.

This was going to be a long recovery.

…

Okay, there we go. Let me reiterate that I'm making this up as I go along, and don't really have plan for a lot of stuff. If you could, telling me where you _think_ I'm going with some of this would be a big help. If I use anyone's ideas, you can be sure I'd give credit where it's due.

Other than that, this was pretty fun.

And much scarily ardent love to the few, the proud, the reviewers. I can't thank you guys enough. You're awesome beyond words.

I'm listening to Steve Jablonsky's score 'Arrival To Earth' from _Transformers_, and you have no idea how epic it makes everything sound. Listen to it, I so command. It's downright _beautiful. _


End file.
